A Poem For Paula
by JamesSunderlandsPillow
Summary: Lynn asks Lucy to help her write a poem for her girlfriend Paula. (Written w/ LoudAutomata16. I do not own The Loud House).


**Hey everyone, thanks for checking this out. Before I smother you with my notorious fluffy pillow, a couple things.**

 **First, this ties into my ongoing Switching Teams series. You should go read that, but you can probably read this without doing so. (You'd be missing out though, just sayin').**

 **Second, this was a collab!:D I enlisted the help of your** _ **other**_ **favorite Lynn writer, LoudAutomata16, to help me type up this bad boy, and we had some fun writing this. Does it matter that he typed up more words? Or that it's my profile it gets posted under? Or that I ate waffles while he worked through blood, sweat, and tears to type relentlessly?**

 **Probably not. What does matter is that you, the readers, enjoy reading this. Please enjoy!:)**

* * *

The Loud house, daylight.

Lucy Loud is sitting alone in her bedroom, composing a poem as she often does when her sporty sister is not around.

The nature of her writing is a bit different than usual. While her go-to topics are vampires, ghosts, and ghouls, today she is writing for a different type of magical creature...

Unicorns!

"Princess… Princess… What rhymes with princess?" she quietly repeats to herself as thinks it over.

"Lucy, I need your help!" Lynn yells as she suddenly barges through their bedroom door. Lucy jumps in her place, and quickly throws her writings under her blanket. The last thing she needs is for her roommate to see what she's writing about, though it might not be that much of a problem... She still suspects that Lynn can't read.

Lynn looks to her younger sister with an inquisitive look, eyeing her up and down before noticing a distinguishable lump underneath her blanket.

"Did I hear you say something about princesses?"

Lucy nervously shuffles around.

"I was referring to the Princess of Transylvania... Princess Pannie?" she finishes weakly, hoping that her sister won't make the connection to the extremely un-Goth franchise she's writing about.

Lynn glares back at her with an unconvinced expression, and Lucy furrows her brow beneath her bangs, "Don't ask questions you aren't prepared to know the answers to," she sternly tells her.

Lynn shrugs, she has more important things to worry about than her weird sister's weirdness.

"Luce, I need you to focus up with me for a sec. I need to write a poem about love, so I need your help with it," Lynn says to the young poet.

"Gasp," Lucy says. "You're writing a poem?... About love?"

Lynn blushes and crosses her arms uncomfortably. "It's for a school project, okay? My teacher wants us to write a poem to present for class," she mumbles.

Lucy tilts her head to the side. "Okaaay... But why does it have to be about love?"

The pale red turns to a full crimson as Lynn's face develops a surprised expression, like she hadn't thought of an answer to this question.

"Because... Shakespeare junk. You know, gotta appeal to the poetry crowd somehow," Lynn ends with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her neck.

Lucy responds with the familiar cold, stoic expression she is known for. "Sigh..." she simply says as she removes her blanket to reveal her book of poems.

"Alright. Have a seat, and I'll see what I can do."

Lynn then invites herself to take a seat by her sister, who cringes at her gesture.

"What are you doing?" she tartly asks.

"Uhm... You said have a seat?" Lynn confusedly answers.

"I meant over there," Lucy says as she points her ghostly pale finger at Lynn's bed.

"Oh," Lynn says with another nervous laugh, still blushing. "Right..."

Lynn gets up from the bed, and makes her way over to her own. As she shuffles over, Lucy notices that her sister doesn't seem to be her usual self. She seems less... confident. Like… she has something she thinks she can't do by herself.

She feels flutters of sympathy for her roommate, knowing full well that this poem must be far more important than any English class assignment.

Lynn sits at the edge of her mattress, and looks expectantly to Lucy. The Goth girl sighs audibly, and decides to cut through the awkward tension between them.

"Okay, so what exactly do you need to do for this assignment? Like, how long does it have to be, is there a rubric, do you need to-?" Lucy begins before being interrupted by Lynn.

"Pffft... I dunno? It just... Needs to be good!" she cleverly retorts.

Lucy rolls her eyes.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific than 'it needs to be good,'" Lucy replies bitingly. "Let's start at the beginning; what is the object of love this poem is for?"

Lynn blinks in confusion. "Huh?"

"When I compose a love poem, I always have the object of my affection in mind. For example," Lucy pauses as she pulls up the bust of a gray vampire, "My one true love, Edwin. Though we may not be together in body, poetry transcends the physical world."

Lynn becomes visibly creeped out. "Well, whatever my love is, it's not going to be an overgrown leech," she says.

Lucy hisses in response, and then takes a deep breath.

"Alright... So what is your love going to be?" she adds, almost mockingly.

Again, Lynn wears her nervousness on her sleeve, but she quickly shakes it off to save face.

"Well, just... a person I guess. It doesn't matter. I just need to get an A on this thing," she insists, trying way too hard to play it off cool.

Lucy makes it clear that she's not impressed with that same familiar look.

Lynn sighs in defeat; she knows that her sister has a point. "Well, there is... _someone_ that I'm thinking of. Someone I really care for," she says quietly, a subtle blush encroaching on her face.

She looks towards the ground, to avoid Lucy's gaze, and she whispers something very quietly, too quiet for even Lucy's attentive ears to absorb.

"What was that?" Lucy asks.

Lynn's face flushes again, and she whispers the same word again, though Lucy still can't hear what she is saying.

"Come again?"

"IT'S PAULA, OKAY? PAULA! PAULA! PAULA! I WANT TO WRITE A POEM FOR PAULA! ARE YOU HAPPY?" Lynn shouts at Lucy, soon becoming completely embarrassed by her declaration.

...

"So, it's not for English class?" Lucy asks quietly, hoping to calm down her emotional sister.

Lynn sighs, and slumps down onto her bed, staring at the ground.

"Yeah, that was a lie," she says in a softer tone, "I'm sorry for exploding like that, Luce."

"I'm sorry for prodding you on like that," Lucy apologizes in return.

"I really want to help you write the best poem you can. Poetry is... important to me, and I just want you to succeed with it," she says with a soft smile.

Her older sister gives her one in return.

"Yeah... I guess it's time I told you a very long story about how I switched teams..." Lynn begins.

"Don't bother," Lucy bluntly states. "I already knew about you and Paula."

Lynn looks shocked, mortified even. "But... but, how? I thought I kept it a pretty good secret?"

"Lynn, I love you with all my heart, but let's be honest; you can't keep a secret about anything."

"There was the time you ate the last piece of leftover chocolate cake, and forgot to clean up your mess…" Lucy recalls.

Rita was not amused. "Lynn Loud Jr.!"

"It was dark?" Lynn defends.

"Or the time you clogged the toilet, and left your jock-strap in the sink as evidence…" Lucy continues.

Lynn Sr. was not amused. "Lynn Loud Jr.!"

"There's a perfectly good reason I put it in the sink," Lynn insists.

"Or the time you left this tube of freshly used butt ointment on our dresser," Lucy points out, literally just now noticing said ointment.

"Okay, you've made your point…" Lynn rubuts as she grabs the tube from the dresser to put away… then she scratches her butt.

Ebbing on her despondence a bit, Lynn sighs. "Fair enough I guess… But, come on? There had to be something specific that gave it away?"

Lucy sighs now. "You really wanna know?" she asks.

"I do," Lynn sincerely responds.

…

"The spirits told me…" Lucy says, completely serious.

"What spirits?" Lynn snidely asks, unconvinced.

"The spirit of… Madincheena…" Lucy furthers, definitely not catching glimpse of the sticker on her book that reads _"Made in China."_

Lynn retains her grimace, and Lucy nervously smiles.

"That is… by far… the most ridiculous name I have _ever_ heard!" Lynn proclaims. "...Did he tell you anything else about me?"

Lucy's face returns to goth form. "Nothing important. Definitely nothing to do with how I saw you talking to yourself about how you want Michael Jordan to officiate your wedding from the ducts last Tuesday…" she mumbles.

"What was that?" Lynn asks.

"Like I said, nothing important," Lucy replies.

Lynn puts on her thinking face, and Lucy begins tapping the end of her pencil against her lip as they begin brainstorming for the new poem.

Lynn still seems bothered by what her sister said, but decides there were more important issues at hand. "So... I really want to- you know, impress her. Will you help me, Luce?" she asks in an almost pleading tone.

Lucy gives a short, curt nod. "You've come to the right place."

* * *

"No, no, no! Paula will hate that!" Lynn asserts.

Lucy sighs. Once again, Lynn's stopped her in the middle of composing a brilliant stanza for the poem to tell her how terrible it is.

It's been like this for the past twenty minutes... Lucy coming up with things that are really great, and Lynn giving her excuses for why they aren't.

"'Paula's hair isn't sandy blonde, it's golden blonde!' or, 'You can't rhyme huggy bunch with crutch… And I would never say huggy bunch!'"

The worst part is, it's felt _way_ longer than twenty minutes. For Lucy, it's felt longer than binge-watching every episode of Vampires of Melancholia in a row.

"What is it now?" Lucy responds to Lynn's previous remark.

"That's way too many P's in one sentence!" Lynn exclaims.

"Stanzas, Lynn..." Lucy tells her... again.

"Stanzas," Lynn unamusingly repeats. "But c'mon..."

"It's called alliteration. It's a commonly used poetry device," Lucy defends. "And it happens to be one of my favorites."

"Well I've had enough P. It's all P, P, P... If I have to hear about anymore P-!" Lynn goes on.

From out in the hallway, faint laughter can be heard.

"Heh heh... That's a lot of P..." Lana snickers.

"You're not helping!" Lynn blurts out.

And then she starts snickering herself. "Heh heh... P sounds like pee..."

"Lynn, focus. I'm trying to help you," Lucy said exasperatedly, "Though I don't see why I bother. You just keep shooting down my suggestions."

"Well, if they didn't all stink-" Lynn ripostes.

Lucy gives her the most deadpan look that she has ever given a family member.

"But seriously... I just want this thing to be perfect," Lynn finishes.

"Sigh. I know, Lynn. I know you want this poem to be perfect. So, after much thought," she says as she starts to stand, "I'll leave you to figure it out."

Flabbergasted, Lynn looks up and down between Lucy and the sprawling pages of the notebook, before she jumps up herself.

"What?! I can't write poetry! I can hardly read!"

"I knew it," Lucy mutters to herself.

"I was being funny..." Lynn explains.

"No, you were using a figure of speech," Lucy asserts. "Which is kind of like poetry."

Lynn looks questioningly at her younger sister, completely puzzled by what she's said. "What do you mean, it's kind of like poetry?"

"I mean that you can do it yourself," Lucy says with a rare, soft smile, "You want to write the perfect poem for Paula, right?"

Lynn nods, completely sure of that.

"You know Paula more than I do. You've spent more time with her, gotten to learn about her, and have stronger feelings for her than anyone else. I think... No, _I know_ that you can make a poem out of that yourself," Lucy says kindly and encouragingly.

Lynn softly smiles back.

"Well... Okay. Where should I start?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Lucy begins. "When you think of Paula, what's the first thing that comes to mind?"

Lynn ponders for a moment, trying to think of everything she wanted to say about Paula. She then smiles, as if at her own joke, and softly whispers, "First thing that comes to mind, huh?"

Lucy frowns.

"Nothing like that, you creep," Lynn retorts.

She then sighs a reminiscing sigh.

"What is it?" Lucy asks.

"Well, I was just thinking back to the first time me and Paula... kissed. She had just the right amount of mud on her face, and her eyes were just so blue..."

"That's good! Work with that!" Lucy interjects.

"Erm... Okay..." Lynn begins. A few moments later, she comes up with the following.

"Every time I think of you… I think of your eyes, their sparkling blue… I think of your hair, a bright yellowish gold… I think of your passion, unyielding and bold…"

Again, Lucy smiles.

"Nah... That's stupid," Lynn tells herself as she's about to erase her composition.

Lucy reaches her hand out to stop her.

"No! That's good! Keep going!" she insists.

Lynn winces. "Are you sure? I mean... I don't know..."

"Lynn, just trust me," Lucy simply tells her, and she lets her get back to work.

Lynn removes her pencil from the notebook, and thoughtfully taps it against her lip.

"Hmm... How about-? Uhm... Let's see..." she utters, and she begins jotting down another stanza.

Lucy smiles, seeing her sister working hard at writing her poem. She decides to slip away, to give the athlete some room- the same room she always wants when she writes. But before she can walk out the door, she hears her sister say…

"Lucy?"

Lucy turns to her, and sees Lynn beaming with gratitude.

"Thanks... For everything," she says softly.

"I guess I'll let you hang on to my notebook for a little while," Lucy teases with half a smile.

"Oh, alright," Lynn jokes in return, "Let's just see what other poems you have in here..."

"Wait, Lynn, no..." Lucy pleas. Her worst fears are confirmed when Lynn shuffles to a random page, and begins eyeing it with confusion.

"Lucy... is this... _Princess Pony?"_

…

"Never... speak of this... ever..." Lucy says in a voice that is between a hiss and growl.

Lynn gulps, and nods her head silently.

Lucy makes her way out the door, leaving Lynn to get back to her poem. She places the tip of the pen right on top of the paper, as she rubs her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm… Now what would be a good rhyme for jockstrap?"

* * *

The next day…

Lynn and Paula are walking home together from school side by side. While Lynn would normally be disappointed about not having any games to go to tonight, the only thing she feels at the moment is this nervous energy that comes with knowing she has her poem for Paula waiting for her at home.

"I can't believe they canceled tonight's game just because Flip attacked the announcers! Like, come on!" Paula exclaims.

"Heh heh, yeah..." Lynn nervously chortles as she feels her face reddening.

"Dude must _really_ care about selling Flippees, I guess," Paula adds.

Luckily, Paula's too interested in Flip's latest flip out to pick up on her girlfriend's despondence, but it doesn't alleviate the conflicting feelings she feels as they approach 1216 Franklin Avenue.

As the two girls open the door to the Loud House and let themselves in, Lynn feels her heartbeat begin to skyrocket. She even begins to wonder if her whole poem plan was a mistake.

She looks back to Paula, and the sight of her girlfriend helps calm her. She smiles. Things are going to be fine.

"Hey, Paula, can you come upstairs with me? I, uh, I want to say something to you in my room," Lynn says to her a slight blush emerging on her face.

Paula grins teasingly, "Oh, you want to take me to your bedroom? But it's still bright out..."

"N-not like that," Lynn stammers in embarrassment.

Paula laughs a little and slaps Lynn on her back. "I'm just joking, Lynn. No need to get so serious," she said, wiping a little tear from her eye.

"Yeah. Just joking, heh heh," Lynn lets out nervously. Despite this, the casual environment between her and Paula eases her enough to keep going.

She takes a deep breath and grabs Paula's hand, causing the other girl to start blushing. "L-let's just get to my room," she says to her.

Paula nods, and the two of them ascend the stairs and walk up to Lynn and Lucy's room.

Before they enter, Lynn turns to see her older sister Luna down the hallway, looking up from her Shredder to give her a mischievous thumbs-up while sticking her tongue out. Lynn's face gets redder as she opens the door and enters the room.

"So, what do you need to bring me here for?" Paula asks as she takes another look around the room. It doesn't matter how many times she's seen it, she still gets surprised by the contrast between Lynn's sports memorabilia and Lucy's Gothic and romantic side of the room.

"Well," Lynn pauses, before she nods to herself, "I... Paula, I really like you, alright?"

She stops, and she boldly takes a step even further.

"No, that's not the right word. The truth is Paula... I love you."

Paula's face goes crimson red when she hears that. "Um, wow, I... I love you too..." she says with a soft smile.

"So, I thought to myself; what is the best way to show someone that you love them? And I realized that... that I wanted to write you a poem," Lynn confesses, "And, so, with a little- emphasis on 'little' help from Lucy, I... I wrote this for you..."

Lynn reveals a crumpled up piece of notebook paper, and she irons it out on her shirt. She doesn't even look at Paula because of her sheer embarrassment, but she clears her throat and starts reading.

…

"Every time I think of you, I think of your eyes, their sparkling blue… I think of your hair, a bright yellowish gold, I think of your passion, unyielding and bold…"

...

Lynn stops, and tugs on the collar of her shirt as she breathes weak, hitched breaths. Her forehead is getting sweaty, her face is almost as red as her jersey...

But Paula... sweet, sweet Paula... She just smiles the most endearing smile as she watches on with those bright blue eyes that Lynn wrote about.

And this gives her all the confidence to keep reading.

…

"From the day that I met you, I knew you were great… And it only got better- after our first date…"

"You kissed me first, but just on the cheek… And I kissed you second, but man, was it sweet…"

"You're better than ball, you're better than sports… You're even better than the lucky jock in my shorts."

…

Paula laughs at that.

As Lynn continues with her poem, she keeps glancing up from her writing to look back at the face of her girlfriend, to ensure that she is still engaged. Every time their eyes met, a little spark of electricity flows between them, and they smile at each other.

…

"Through thick and thin, Paula, you're my favorite girl… I love you the most, you're the best in the world…"

...

And with that, her reading ends. Lynn keeps her eyes on the notebook paper, not even daring to look at Paula. Her worries about Paula hating it have returned, and she begins to feel herself sweating, terrified of her reaction…

Paula sniffles, and she has to wipe away a tear.

"Lynn, that was really good."

The athletic Loud girl looks up from her paper with surprise, and sees Paula smiling birghtly at her. "That was... really sweet, Lynn. I... I don't know what to say," she admits sheepishly.

Lynn exhales deeply with relief and looks her girlfriend in the eyes. "All you have to say is that you liked it, and give it a thumbs-up," Lynn says somewhat jokingly.

Paula laughs, and flashes her two thumbs-up, "I loved it."

Lynn nervously scratches the back on her neck as she looks to the floor, but musters the courage to meet Paula's eyes again.

"You really liked it?"

Paula smiles back. "How could I not? This was like, the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me..."

She steps up to Lynn, and takes her by the hand as she looks into her eyes.

"You never cease to amaze me, Lynn. Just when I think you can't get any better..."

She doesn't finish, and she doesn't need to. The affectionate look on her face tells Lynn what she already needs to know…

"Touchdown!" she mutters to herself, just audibly enough for Paula to hear her.

"What?" she says with a little giggle.

"Nothing," Lynn simply says.

With that, the taller girl leans in to give her girlfriend a peck on the cheek. As she slowly pulls away, Lynn puts her hand to her cheek, cherishing the warmth that came from the kiss.

They let the saccharine feelings linger in the air for a moment, and then share a little laugh.

"So, Lucy only helped a little, huh?" Paula quips.

Lynn brashly smiles. "What can I say? I guess there isn't anything I can't do," she teases.

Paula playfully rolls her eyes. "Alright, Sappho... Let's go outside and play some ball."

"Sure. You know I can never get enough kicking your butt," Lynn flirts.

"Shut up, shorty," Paula jokes with a laugh, and they continue their banter as they make their way into the hall.

Meanwhile, unknown to both Lynn and her girlfriend, another set of eyes has been watching them.

Lucy backs away from the ventilation shaft to the duct she sits in, smiling to herself, happy the poetry triumphs once again. She grabs a small bust from behind her, shaped as a famous television vampire.

"Sigh. Everything worked out again, Edwin. The rhythm of love conquers all," she whispered to the vampire head, "Though I wish she gave me a little more credit, it's more important that she impress her soulmate. I won't hold it against her..."

She thinks it over, and smiles a small smirk. "Hmm… Maybe I'll leave a little guano in her pillow, though. Just because…"

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading, everyone. Please stay tuned for more from my Switching Teams series, and definitely go check out everything from Auto. The dude does this better than anyone else, in my opinion.**

 **Until next time, True Believers!**


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